Jungle Fever
by shipper727
Summary: Ally is a laboratory scientist who was forced to go evaluate Austin Moon, a field scientist in the Amazon jungle. The rainforest is wet, full of bugs, and when Ally finally meets the mysterious Dr. Moon, he's a complete jerk. Over her three week stay Ally learns a lot about the jungle, and finds that chemistry can be just as interesting in the wild as it is in the lab.
1. Chapter 1

**a/n: Hey so this fic is based off the movie Medicine Man. I hope you like it :)**

* * *

Rain in the rain forest starts without a warning. It just pours down without any consideration for those who might not necessarily want to get wet.

I sighed. Being stuck in the rain forest was not my idea of fun. I was a laboratory scientist, _not _a field researcher.

The Board of Directors at the Institute had forced me into this, coercing me with promises of new subjects and a research grant.

It'll be easy, they'd said. All you have to do is deliver some equipment to an out of reach scientist.

I'd wondered why no one else had wanted to do it. Delivering equipment didn't seem very difficult after all.

I laughed at my naivety as the native man pushed the large canoe that was carrying us down the lake.

It was pouring here, the rain sopping down all over us, making it difficult to see much.

My guide, the brown-skinned man who was wearing only a cloth around his waist, didn't seem to mind.

"Excuse me," I had to shout to be heard above the rain. "Are we almost there?"

He looked at me, and said something in a language I couldn't even identify.

Well, that's fuckin' helpful. I nodded my head, pretending I had a clue what he was talking about.

I turned to face the front of the canoe. Putting my head in my hands I tried to fight off the tears that were threatening to spill.

I wasn't going to be here long, I reminded myself.

Just long enough to drop off some equipment and make an evaluation of Austin Moon, a field scientist who had been studying the native people of the rain forest for almost five years now.

He was actually a bit of a legend back at the Institute. He'd graduated at the top of his class seven years ago, had been a brilliant researcher heading towards becoming a famous Nobel Prize winner. Five years ago he'd gone out to study the tribes of the Amazon, and had never come back.

A large bump pulled me out of my thoughts. The canoe had hit the shoreline, and my guide was talking. He was signalling something to me. His hands pointed towards my suitcase, and then the woods. I gathered that he wanted me to follow him, so I grabbed my bag and sloshed out into the jungle.

The walk was long and I was tired, tripping over fallen roots and getting bit by huge mosquitoes.

By the time we pulled into a huge clearing that was filled with make shift huts, the sky was a dark black with twinkling stars lighting the way.

Stepping out into the clearing, I gasped aloud.

The people were dancing around a huge bonfire, wearing intricate masks and little clothing.

How the hell was I supposed to find Austin Moon in all of this?

Just as I was about to sit down and fall asleep on my suitcase, a man wearing a huge bird mask came out of the dance.

"Why are you here?"

This was just too much for me. I was exhausted from this trip that I had not wanted to be on in the first place, and now this man was asking me why I was there.

"What do you mean why am I here?" Steam was practically erupting from my ears. "You asked for equipment to be delivered to you. I'm here to deliver."

A strong, tanned arm reached up to pull of the mask, and my eyes popped.

Austin Moon was gorgeous. Drop dead ruggedly, handsome gorgeous.

His face was tan, with a five o'clock shadow darkening it. His blond hair was tousled and messy, as if he had a habit of running his hands through it.

Brown eyes watched me, and my heart stuttered.

For some reason, the fact that he was dangerously attractive only made me angrier.

Then I noticed how he swayed on his feet. He was drunk.

"What the hell is wrong with you!" I shouted. "You're-you're drunk!"

He smirked. "We've just been having a bit of a party. It's sort of a tradition."

I gaped at him in awe. He didn't seem particularly sorry about any of this.

Taking a deep breath, I crossed my arms, trying to remain calm. "I'm Ally Dawson." I waited for recognition to light his features, but I got nothing.

I sighed. "Look, the Institute sent me out here to bring the equipment you asked for, and to evaluate your work."

He looked me up and down. "Well, I sure as hell didn't ask for _you _to bring my equipment."

That was it. The absolute last straw. "You know what, just give me somewhere to sleep tonight and we can talk in the morning when you're less. . . intoxicated."

He just grinned at my obvious annoyance. "Of course. Somewhere to sleep."

Turning he walked off into the huge crowed without waiting to see if I was following.

Groaning, I lifted my suitcase and followed him.

Austin was humming, and his gait was a bit off. An effect of all the alcohol he'd probably consumed tonight.

"Where are we going?" I stumbled behind him, my suitcase heavy on my back.

He turned, and gave me a look. "Are you always so demanding?"

I sucked in a breath forcing myself to remain calm.

I gave him a twisted smile. "Only when I'm dealing with belligerent idiots."

He raised his eyebrows, but I could see the grin threatening his features.

"Right. Well, here we are."

I dropped my bag at my feet, taking in my surroundings. The hut was small and cozy with two hammock beds side by side, one up against the far wall and one against the back. The back opened up to the jungle, and there was a little research center in the far right corner.

"Who's house is this?" I asked him.

"It's mine." He looked around, his hands in his pocket, as if this was no big deal.

"Excuse me," I said in disbelief. There was no way I was sharing a house with this man for three weeks.

He gave me a crooked grin. "It's easier here, or outside on the ground."

I'm surprised I hadn't spontaneously combusted by this point. Or murdered him.

Swallowing my pride I walked over to the hammock, pulling off my soaking shirt and jeans.

"What are you doing?" Austin's voice was a little deeper.

"My clothes are disgusting." I said over my shoulder. "I'm not wearing them to bed."

He mumbled something I couldn't quite hear, and then walked back out of the hut.

I lay down on the hammock, trying to get comfortable. It was going to be a hell of a long three weeks.


	2. Chapter 2

**a/n: Sorry, I know it's been a while. I had a bio field trip and then I had to take the SAT so I've been really busy. Hope this helps make up for it :)**

* * *

The sun hit my eyes, and I groaned. My body was stiff and sore. Rolling over, I yelped in surprise as I hit the hard floor.

Lifting my head up, I took in my surroundings.

The small cabin with the hammock beds. Duh. No wonder I'd fallen off.

The sound of laughter infiltrated my thoughts.

I looked up and saw Dr. Moon staring at me, his eyes bright and amused.

"Piss off," I glared at him.

"Well, someone woke up on the wrong side of the bed, huh?" He grinned at me. "Or not on the bed at all it seems."

"Oh, ha ha." I rolled my eyes, picking myself up off the ground. "You're so funny."

He shrugged, amusement still clearly written across his face. "I like to think so."

I blew out a breath. I had a feeling our banter could last all morning, and I _really _wanted to get out of here.

"Listen, I have to evaluate you for the Board of Directors, and then I'll be out of your hair."

His eyebrows raised, and for a second all I could see was how beautiful his soft brown eyes were.

Shaking my head, I scowled. Getting attached to this man would not end well for me.

"Who says I'm going to let you evaluate me?" His smooth voice questioned.

Brushing the dust off my sleeves, I crossed my arms, trying to appear intimidating. "It's not really up to you, is it?"

He sat down a comfy looking brown chair. "How do you see that?"

God, he was difficult. "If I don't evaluate you, then I'm forced to say your research is not proving worth the money the Institute is spending to fund it."

"So, what you're saying is that I'm stuck with you for the next couple of days if I want to continue my work out here?"

I smiled. "Now you're getting it. So let's get to it then. The faster we're done, the faster I can get the hell out of here."

"Right," he pointed to his computer screen. "Well, what do you see?"

I leaned over his shoulder trying to get a better look. His messy hair brushed against my throat, and his scent invaded me.

Stumbling, I almost fell into his lap, his arms catching me just in time.

"Now, there's no need to be nervous around me," he grinned. "I know I'm devastatingly handsome but I put my pants on one leg at a time just like everyone else."

Well, somebody had a serious false sense of self importance. Although, I had to admit, the devastatingly handsome part wasn't far off.

Refocusing on the computer screen, I let myself fall into the world of numbers and equations.

His results were very well recorded, and I now knew why everyone had always talked about him as a sort of genius. Which I could definitely relate to.

I had always had an easier time sorting numbers than people, which did sort of put a damper on most of my relationships.

Not that it was a huge problem. I'd never met anyone that had made me want to put out the effort to make it work.

I clicked through a couple of his reports, the numbers swirling together in my head leading to one conclusion that made me gasp out loud.

"Oh my god." I turned and looked at Dr. Moon, our eyes meeting and holding. "This is. . . this could be the cure for cancer. How did you find this?"

He didn't look away, as if he couldn't move either. "It wasn't really me, actually. A local medicine man, he used it to heal the people of this village. I just sort of changed some of the components, perfected it."

He was being modest, I could see it in his eyes. It surprised me, he had seemed so cocky and arrogant. Who knew he could be humble?

"Why haven't you reported this back? This is huge! We need to get teams out here immediately."

He stood abruptly, finally breaking our eye contact.

I sucked in a breath, trying to regain composure.

"We can't do that! Not yet." His eyes were fiery, and his voice held a sort of desperate edge.

I frowned. "Why not? The world needs to see this."

He groaned, putting his hands on his head. "Don't you think I know that? I just, I need more time."

His eyes shut, and his expression was one of pain and indecision.

I put my hand on his arm. "Are you alright?"

He slowly opened his eyes, and I saw something broken in them.

"I can't tell the world if it means hurting these people."

I shook my head in confusion. "You mean the natives? Why would it hurt them?"

He broke away from my grasp. "Like you said, if I told anyone teams and teams of people would come out here looking for the answer. All those people would bring diseases and bugs."

Oh. I nodded my head. "And the natives don't have the immune systems to deal with it all."

Dr. Moon looked at me. "Exactly. And I can't do that to them."

He ran his hands through his hair. "And besides that, I haven't perfected it. There's this one component that I cannot seem to get right."

"Dr. Moon," my voice was a little shakier than normal. "I'm going to help you. Okay."

My eyes focused on his. "I promise."

He nodded. "Just do me one favor, yeah?"

At this point I'd probably do anything to take the look of pain off is face. "Of course."

"Call me, Austin."

I gave him a questioning look, and he laughed. "I just kind of miss hearing my real name, you know?"

"Okay." I smiled. "Austin."

He was looking at me with something I couldn't quite comprehend. But it scared the hell out of me.

I needed to put some distance between us.

I punched his shouldering, trying to make my voice lighter. "But don't think this means I like you. You're still an arrogant jerk."

A grin escaped, and he almost smiled at me. "Wouldn't have it any other way."


	3. Chapter 3

**a/n: Whew, it's been a while. Sorry for that. :(**

* * *

It rained about twenty percent of the day here. Every single day.

Normally, I loved rain. But this rain was thick and heavy and could start at the drop of a hat, disappearing just as quickly.

"Do you ever get used to being wet all the time?" I asked Austin, exasperated.

Austin laughed, and shook his head. "Nah, and that's what I love about it here. There's always something new to see."

"Can't argue with that," I acknowledged. "So how are we going to go about looking for this mysterious last component?"

Austin grinned, his whole face lighting up. "That's the best part. We have to go up."

Twenty minutes later I understood what he was saying.

Austin was hooking himself into a harness, kind of like the king you wear on rollercoasters.

"Um, Austin." I really hoped he was not serious. I was not a huge fan of heights. "What, exactly, are you doing?"

"Well, we," he started, "are going to have to go up in the trees."

I'm pretty sure that the missing link is some type of leaf. I'll know it when I see it."

I looked up at the tallest trees in the world.

This was so not going to be pretty.

"Austin," I swallowed. "I don't really think that's a good idea. Maybe I could just help you from down here."

He raised his brow. "Are you afraid of heights?"

I glared at him. "Maybe."

He smirked. "Don't worry, I'll protect you from the big, nasty trees."

"Cocky much?"

"Only because I have a reason to be. I mean have you seen my face!" His smile lit up his whole face.

Goddamn but he was beautiful.

"Alright, fine." I groaned, walking over to him. "But you had better strap me in _tight."_

His long arm wrapped around my back, clicking the harness into place.

And then his hand reached between my legs, pulling the harness up. His lingering fingers brushed up my tummy, making me shiver.

He looked up into my eyes. "Sorry."

I just shook my head. I didn't even want to admit how good that had felt to myself.

Buckling me in, and pulling all the straps tight, he clapped me on the back. "Ready?"

I breathed out. "As I'll ever be."

He handed me the rope that was attached to my harness. "Okay, so all you have to do is pull on this to go up."

Nodding, I gripped the rope.

He gave me one last look, and then started pulling, and I soon followed suit.

We got to the top of the trees, and I was careful not to look down. I did _not_ want to know how far up we were.

"Are you okay, Ally?"

"Mmhmm, totally fine." I responded, still not looking down.

"Ally." I could feel Austin's breath on my cheek, his scent enveloping me.

Slowly, I looked into his eyes. They were warm and brown and reassuring. And suddenly all I wanted was for him to take me in his arms.

"Do you trust me?" His voice was steady, and surprisingly I found that I did trust him. Completely.

I nodded, not trusting myself to speak.

"Good." He smiled at me. "Then trust me when I tell you that you are going to be fine."

I focused on the deep tones of his voice. "I'm going to be fine."

And then I was.

I broke our eye contact, leaning down to look at the ground.

It was far away, but I could feel Austin next to me. And I wasn't afraid anymore.

I smiled, looking back up at him. "I'm ready."

He grinned back. "Excellent, now comes the fun part."

Our harnesses were attached to long lines of rope, like zip lines.

Letting go of the rope that was keeping him stationary, Austin flew down the line, his head back whooping at the top of his lungs.

I breathed in, and let go of my rope, screaming as I raced down the line.

Pretty soon though, I loosened my death grip on my harness, laughing as I realized just how much fun it was.

I caught up to Austin, who was standing on the branch of a tree.

He tossed the rope out to me, and I clicked it onto my harness. I grabbed his stretched out arm, and climbed onto the branch beside him.

"Well, how was it?"

I laughed. "So much fun. Who knew?"

"Well, I mean I did." He grinned.

My smile widened, and I punched him in the shoulder.

"Oh, don't start anything you can't finish." He started tickling my stomach, and I giggled, trying to get away.

My foot slipped and I almost fell, but Austin grabbed me just in time, hauling me up into his arms.

I couldn't stop giggling, until I felt Austin's hard chest against mine.

Looking up, I realized just how close we were. Thigh to thigh, chest to chest.

If I reached up just a little farther, our lips would meet. . .

My breathing deepened, and I could feel Austin's heartbeat.

"Ally," he murmured.

I stood on tiptoes, almost forgetting where I was.

And then his lips were on mine, nibbling and biting.

I bit his bottom lip, and then slipped my tongue in.

He groaned against my mouth, and pulled me in even tighter.

Threading my hands through his hair, I hung on for dear life.

I felt his hands slip underneath my shirt, his hands like fire on my bare skin.

Austin took a step back, and suddenly we were falling.

I screamed, and wrapped my legs around Austin's waist.

We both jerked up, as the rope came to it's end, leaving us suspended in mid air.

We hung their for a few seconds, trying to catch our breath.

Finally, after what seemed like ages, I could breathe again. "Holy shit."

Austin looked over at me, his eyes wide. "Which part?"

I laughed almost hysterically. I had had the best kiss of my life and then almost died in the span of five minutes.

Austin joined in, and soon we were both in hysterics.

I looked over at him, and was hit with just how incredibly beautiful he was.

His blond air was sticking almost straight up, and his eyes were completely alive. The muscles under his jumped every time he laughed, and it was all just too too much.

I knew I could never have him. Not like I wanted.

That was it. I could not, not kiss him again. It would just make everything worse and then my heart would be broken when I had to leave.

I vowed then and there, that I would never kiss Austin Moon again.


End file.
